Of Dreams and Reality
by xynad
Summary: KuroPika pairing: Set after Lynlyn's WildHearts. Kuroro watches as a group of bounty hunters manage to get the last pair of Kuruta eyes: Kurapika's.


**Title: **Of Dreams and Reality

**Author: **danyx17

**A/N: **KuroPika pairing, obviously shounen-ai. This is set after Lynlyn's WildHearts. (To those who haven't read it yet, DO). Credits go to her for the inspiration. Now I'm addicted to KuroPika.

**A/N2: **This is my first try at KuroPika writing, so please go easy on me. Warning on possible hints of OOCness. Reviews are highly appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **Standard disclaimers apply. Hunter X Hunter and all related characters are Yoshihiro Togashi's. Enough said.

It was surreal.

He saw everything clearly, like it was some movie being shown on big screen. Everything played on smoothly. No pauses, no rewinds, no forwards and definitely none of those what-the-heck-my-CD-is-stuck-moments you get when you watch a film from a pirated CD.

He looked around and quickly realized where he was. The chamber was huge, and one could never tell whether it was a square or a circular chamber unless one decides to explore its entirety. Only one-fourth of the said chamber was lit by a torch, and the rest was shrouded in complete darkness, making it impossible for "others" to find their way out unscathed. The ceiling was several feet higher than most buildings, and some of the paint of the walls was chipped off, revealing another layer of older paint. Rubbish and piles of tattered furniture and the sort were scattered here and there, and a few spots on the floor were damp from the constant dripping of water from the uncountable leaks of the ceiling. Insects and pests scuttled about, feeding on every possible source they could find. It was, all in all, a rundown God-forsaken place, and not at all suitable for a night's sleep. But he, having made use of the said chamber twice too many times can say otherwise. In fact, he had grown familiar with the said place so much he could call it home.

Of course.

The Spider's Lair.

Only there wasn't a single Genei Ryodan member in sight. For a brief moment he wondered where they had all gone, being that he hadn't given them any mission. It was not usual for them to leave all at the same time; usually a member or two would be left as a look-out.

There were, however, several people inside. They were bending over something in the middle of the room; probably some left-over Deme-chan wasn't able to suck. He saw their faces clearly, but none of them looked familiar at all. What, then, were these people doing inside their hide-out?

Something was terribly wrong.

Kuroro Lucifer approached nearer, and as he did, he counted seven people. Seven. He had sensed that these people were nen-users, as they were stupid to release tremendous amounts of aura, and if he was careful enough, he could probably defeat all seven of them in more or less seven minutes. Yes, approximately a minute for each.

He is after all, the head honcho of the most notorious S-class criminal gang in the world.

"Bastards," he heard an oddly familiar voice speak, although it sounded more of a hoarse croak rather than the insult it should have been.

He tried to find the owner of that voice, and realized that there were actually eight people and not seven as he initially thought. The eighth person was elfish compared to the size of the other seven and even from afar, it was quite obvious he was subdued, and obviously outnumbered.

To say that Kuroro Lucifer was angry as hell with what he had seen would be an understatement. Indeed, being the cool-calm-collected-persona that he was, it was rather out of character for an emotion as strong as what he felt to grace him that easily. He felt all sense of restraint leave him, as he quickly made his way towards the mob of people in the middle of the room. He could not understand why he was seeing red eventhough he wasn't a Kuruta.

Perhaps he saw red because the Kuruta was several feet away and was being feasted upon by beasts.

He never imagined the day would come that he would see Kurapika in this state again. He had sworn with his life that that encounter, the day the blond was forced to join the Ryodan, would be the last time he would get hurt because as long as he, the dancho, was with the blond, he would not let anybody lay a hand on him. Well, unless some unavoidable accident or mishap happens. But this was nothing of an accident.

The Kuruta was sitting on the damp floor of the hideout, his clothes torn and soaked in his own blood. There was a huge rip on his upper garment, exposing bloodied flesh. His left hand was supporting his right torso, and by the sheer look of pain in his face, it seemed that he had broken a few ribs.

"What was that?!"

"Yeah, I didn't catch that too!"

" …. "

"The poor kid. Wish you were with your famous gang now, huh?"

"He's pathetic,"

"Bastards," Kurapika repeated, anger reflected in his eyes, but amazingly, they remained green.

One of the seven men who were hovering above him, a big, burly man almost twice the size of Ubogin, got hold of a tuft of his hair, lifted him by it and pinned him so hard on the wall that a few of the men actually winced.

"Where are the other pairs of eyes?" the burly man inquired.

"Yeah, tell us. We know it's with your gang," another shouted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kurapika managed to answer.

"I'm running out of patience! Why can't we just kill him? We could just get his eyes and sell the price afterwards! We're just wasting time!"

"….."

"We're bounty hunters. Of course we would want the whole collection. If we manage to get the older scarlet eyes from this kid, plus his own… we will be goddamn rich,"

"37 pairs of Kuruta eyes. I'll wonder if I don't bag Chairman Netero's position,"

Through all this, Kuroro kept on approaching. Panic was starting to seep through him. Since when did he ever feel panic anyway? But that thought was the least of his worries now. He had to save Kurapika. Still, he kept wondering, how could this have happened? He took a leap, then another.. till he lost count. He had to save Kurapika. He took another leap, and another… How come it seemed as if it took so long for him to reach them? For Pete's sake, they were only a few feet apart. He kept leaping… until he realized that he was not moving at all.

In fact, his body wasn't there at all.

What was happening?

He saw everything as if he was there, but he wasn't. He couldn't see his body, nor could he feel his limbs. He wasn't even sure if he could move. He felt the bounty hunters' nen, but he couldn't access his own. Where was his body? How come he could see all these? How was he supposed to save Kurapika?

"$$$$#$$! Aren't you angered the least bit?!"

"How the hell are we supposed to make him use the Scarlet Eyes?!"

"Ah heck! Let's just gauge his green eyes! They're still worth a fortune anyway,"

"Hey guys, calm down! We're not wasting the last pair of Scarlet eyes!"

Three men approached Kurapika and the burly man holding him. One had a scalpel and incisors with him.

Kuroro Lucifer screamed.

OoOoOoO

The screaming in his head made him sit down by reflex, and he suddenly woke up drenched in cold sweat. He was shaking, that much he know of. He didn't know if he actually screamed, or the screaming was all in his head. His eyes suddenly darted open, still unseeing for a moment. A few seconds was all it took for his eyes to get accustomed to the darkness and upon doing so, he quickly glanced around in search of that familiar figure. He had to make sure it wasn't true, because if it was… A heavy sigh escaped his overly constricted lungs as he heard the steady breathing of the young blond beside him. He brushed a lock of golden hair away from the younger boy's forehead as his mind started to reel.

A dream.

It was just a dream. And yet it seemed so real.

He rarely had dreams. And when he did have, they were usually more of the nonsensical type. That dream though. It was a far cry from nonsense. Is it any wonder then that he felt so much anger? That he got scared?

"Scared, huh?" he muttered sarcastically to himself as he continued to gaze at the sleeping figure of Kurapika.

Whatever happened to the head honcho of the most notorious S-class criminal gang in the world who could defeat seven people in seven minutes?

Usually, he would chuckle at the very thought of him being scared, except that now he couldn't. Because he was scared. For the first time in his entire life, Kuroro Lucifer was scared.

He was scared because that dream, or nightmare, was his worst fear dramatized. He was scared because he had never been so helpless, and that wasn't him at all. He was scared because he had sworn with his life that he would protect the blond eventhough the other doesn't know it, but he failed miserably. And he was scared because maybe, he loved Kurapika too much… already to a fault.

So many fears, and yet they all lead back to one.

The irony of it all.

Kuroro Lucifer sighed. He pulled the comforter higher so that it reached the blonde's chest. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table as it read two forty-seven in the morning.

He stood up, careful not to wake the other, got his neglected book from the divan across the bed, sat himself on a stool placed beside the bed and started to read. He was not in any way sleeping again, or letting his guard down the least bit after that stupid dream.

The last living Kuruta was too much of a treasure, and he wasn't even talking about the eyes. He had to make sure the Kuruta was safe.

He didn't know if he was overreacting or if there was indeed some truth to that dream.

But he would watch over, just in case.

END.


End file.
